Pages

Friday, October 25, 2013

Top 5 Pokémon That Need an Evolution

In the light of everyone playing Pokemon the last 1,5 weeks (and by everyone I mean at least 0,0056% of the world population the first two days after release!) I thought it could be fun to do some more Pokemon themed posts around here. I love lists and I love Pokemon, so it's a match made in heaven. I have plans for a couple of lists, but we'll see how many I get around to actually doing before things get too hectic around here. The lists I have planned are pretty common, but the beautiful thing about Pokemon is that everyone has their own opinion about them. There are so many of them by now that eventhough there will always be the obvious favorites, such as mean ass looking Charizard and Mewtwo, most of us have that obscure Pokemon we love for our own personal reasons. Or not, there are plenty of Pokemon out there that truly annoy me or that I plain don't understand the point of (Vanillite, I am looking at you). So there is a lot to be said about Pokemon for sure and I thought I'd get started with my own Top 5 of Pokemon that need an evolution. I will point out though that I haven't included the most recent X&Y addition to the Pokedex in my lists, simply because I don't feel like I am familiar enough with those Pokemon to have made up my mind regarding most of them. Maybe some time in the far future I will do an updated lists where they are included. Until then, I've focused on the first five generations.

Whereas I agree that not all Pokemon need or should have an evolution and that think that there are several that work very well on their own (like Pinsir) without throwing in anything extra, I've chosen to add Pokemon on this list that simply feel a bit uncomplete the way they are.

5. Luvdisc

Almost Luvdisc - pldh.net

The funny thing about Luvdisc is that I thought it had an evolution all along in Gorebyss, it was only until recently I somehow figured out or was told that they're not in any way related (well, at least they're not in the same family). Gorebyss is another Pokemon entirely, with its own evolutionary tree, but it totally looks like an evolution to Luvdisc, you have to agree! They're both pink, fishy-faced Pokemon, and Gorebyss sort of has that heart thing going on with its head, it just looks like, you know, it evolved into something a bit more than what Luvdisc is. Instead, Gorebyss evolves from Clamperl, which just seems weird. Clamperl could go into some other family somewhere, maybe as a baby Pokemon to Shellder/Cloyster. Alomola is another Pokemon that looks a lot like it could have something to do with Luvdisc. It's almost like they sent out a PM to several designers with the same instructions, and these three Pokemon is what came out of it. They just decided to run with all three of them separately rather than combining them into one family, which just means us players can't tell them apart and give none of them the light of day. I think the reason I put Luvdisc on this list is mainly because it really feels like it fits together perfectly with Gorebyss and/or Alomola, and as soon as I found out it has nothing to do with that Pokemon, it felt so lost and lonely somehow.

How are they not related? - deviantart.com

4. Relicanth

I bet it has a great personality - bbc.co.uk

In a way it's silly of me to put Relicanth on this list, since the animal it is based on - the Coelacanth - hasn't evolved in millions of years. Logically then neither should Relicanth. As a Pokemon however, I've always felt like Relicanth would be the perfect first stage to something that turns into something completely else, like a synonym of the Magikarp evolution line if you like. Relicanth would be the humble, subtle Pokemon to do this, as a contrast to Magikarps goofy, derpiness, and of course whatever evolution Relicanth would end up with has to mirror this as well, turning the "personality" of the Pokemon completely around just like Gyarados does for Magikarp. As it is now, Relicanth just feels too awkward, like a social misfit that huddles in the corner of a party. He deserves an awesome evolution that would open peoples eyes to what a cool Pokemon Relicanth is himself.

Art imitates life - pokemondb.net

3. Shuckle

At least he's not a lamp - pokemondb.net

Shuckle is one of the weirdest looking Pokemon if you ask me, and it has some great contenders. I've always seen it as some sort of turtle, but if you look closely it looks more like a worm that lives inside a hollow stone. And Shuckle? That has to be a sarcastic name given considering that the only facial expression I've ever seen on Shuckles face is anything but happy. Shuckle is probably what you do when you first see it, nothing else. To me, Shuckle is actually a pretty cool Pokemon. He has a very original look and feels like he holds much potential. As a bug/rock Pokemon he also combines two types that I rarely end up using, and Shuckle could definitely make up for that if only he responded to me somehow. Right now I feel like he's just not interesting enough to play with, which might come down to personal taste, but I'd love it if they managed to up his game a bit by giving him a more elaborate style in an evolution. I think it's sad that he somehow feels like he's designed to be made fun of rather than to actually use seriously, maybe an evolution could remedy that.

Not my ideas, but it's getting there (maybe a bit too much like Octillery) - deviantart.com

2. WeezingThe only Pokemon on this list to be an evolution himself, Koffing and Weezing are among my favorite Pokemon-families (similar to Grimer and Muk). They are similar in many ways, both families having cool designs and awesome naming choices. But whereas Muk feels like a final evolution to me, I never thought so about Weezing, I always felt like he should continue on to something even cooler. Maybe it's that unfinished little head poking out at his side that gave me the unfinished feeling, maybe something completely else. How to go about it, I am not sure. Just adding yet another tiny head would just be silly (or would it?), so something else has to be done of course. Maybe it should be called something along the lines of Huffing or Gasping and have yet another hue of purple. I don't think there should be any limbs, that too would just look silly, but maybe something else protruding to signify that it is yet another stage in the evolution. It will never happen I am sure, and maybe the main reason I want Weezing to have another evolution is because I want to see more of him in the newer games (same with Muk and Grimer). Maybe what he really needs is in fact a Mega-Evolution? *mind blown*

Faces only a mother can love - pokemontradingpost.com

1. Dunsparce

He is cute though - pokemondb.net

Good old Dunsparce, I'm not sure what the designer of this Pokemon thought when creating it, because to me there is no other Pokemon that looks more intentionally designed to have at least one evolution than this Pokemon. The name seems to be made up of combining the words Dunce and Sparce, hinting that this Pokemon isn't good for anything on its own. In all honesty, to me it doesn't even look like a stage 1 Pokemon, this could've easily been a baby Pokemon with its underdeveloped wings (?), unopened eyes and what look like little feeler-teeth. It's like the designer wasn't even sure what it was supposed to be or end up as, it's tagged as a land snake, but has wings (?) for some reason and doesn't have much of a snake shape if you ask me. And it's normal-type, the most insipid and boring type of all the types imo. I've always thought that the feeler-teeth were some sort of teeth, but in X&Y I discovered that the blue part is actually its chin so that the feeler-teeth must be more of some sort of feeler-beard. In any case, Dunsparce makes no sense whatsoever, and not because he is stupidly designed like so many Pokemon that just seem to be a Pokemon-form of some sort of piece of furniture or the like (Rotom for instance), but because he is so incomplete and confusing. Dunsparce needs to be explained, and the best way to do that is to give him an evolution (or two) that would show off what Dunsparce is all about anyway. Just Google "Dunsparce" for many great ideas.

Like this one - archive.foolz.us

I think the reason I care so much about Dunsparce is because he has a much bigger role in the most recent Pokemon: Mystery Dungeon, that I've played a lot. In it, they've given him the personality of a shy kind of nobody who constantly doubts his own skills and questions his worth. It made me really feel for the guy, because he always compares himself to the cooler looking Pokemon, and even the other lame looking Pokemon like Weedle know that they're going to turn into something cool eventually. Right now Dunsparce seems to be designed around being to turn into something cool, without actually being able to do so, and I definitely think he deserves more attention and love from the designers.

About Me

I'm Zinn, former healing priest extraordinaire of WoW, which I played between April 2005- April 2013. Nowadays I spend my days playing other games, reading loads of stuff and writing the occassional blog post about it. Enjoy!